Features

A weekend of holiday festivities is ahead, with Christmas parades, tree lightings, music and visits from St. Nick.

Hillsville

The Town of Hillsville will celebrate the Christmas season with its annual tree lighting and Christmas parade on Dec. 3.

The festivities will start at 5 p.m. with stocking stuffing along North Main Street. The first 300 children to check in at town hall will receive a free stocking to get stuffed by local merchants and those set up along the street. Stocking stuffing will last until 6 p.m.

The High Country Lights are returning to Felts Park in Galax this year with plenty of shimmering holiday pageantry, according to Parks & Recreation Director Dave Nelson.

“We are pleased to announce that William Bottomley has agreed to bring his Christmas light show back to Felts Park for the 2016 season,” said Nelson. “The show will begin on Thanksgiving Night and run through Jan. 2.”

FRIES ― U.S. Army veteran Coy Shaffner, 94, had to think for a moment on the exact year he joined the armed forces, but when he was asked how many days he spent as a prisoner of war, he recalled the number instantly: 203 days.

INDEPENDENCE ― Grayson County Churches are banding together again this month to prepare and deliver Thanksgiving dinners to more than 1,200 people.

This annual event began 10 years ago, and has expanded from its initial preparation and delivery to about 200 families in the area. Through the years, it has grown to feeding about 10 percent of the Grayson County population, according to a news release.

A Veterans Day ceremony was held at the Blue Ridge Veterans Memorial in Galax on Nov. 11, featuring American Legion Post #245, the Galax JROTC unit and color guard and the Galax High School Band.

The memorial is located next to the Galax Public Library.

Prior to the ceremony, the band played a selection of music as the crowd gathered. The JROTC presented colors and the band played the “National Anthem” while the crowd saluted or placed their hands over their hearts.

Daniel Harrison, pastor of Hearts United Church in Galax, wants people to know that the storefront worship center is open.

Way open.

The church is an offshoot of the Hearts United movement, wherein Hispanic, black and white churches came together this summer to push racial hatred and dissent aside in favor of praise and a healing dose of Christ’s love. Hearts United Church goes even further, as the homemade paper banner hanging its window states: “All welcome here: Immigrants, Muslims, LGBT, People of Color.”

Galax and the towns of Hillsville and Independence invite kids of all ages to Halloween night fun on Monday.

The Galax Downtown Association is planning this year’s Downtown Halloween Bash that is set for 5-8 p.m. on Oct. 31.

Local businesses, churches and organizations are encouraged to gather downtown to play games, give treats to children of all ages and enjoy an outing for the entire family. The bash offers children a fun and safe place to enjoy the evening’s festivities and to gather treats.

Can Halloween tell us who’ll win the White House? Apparently, the sale of candidate masks is an eerily accurate crystal ball.

According to one costume industry index, mask sales have correctly predicted the outcome of every presidential election since 1996. According to another index – which goes back further – they’ve been right since 1980, when Ronald Reagan’s mug outsold Jimmy Carter’s by 20 percent.

The phrase “to finish is to win” took on real meaning when 84 antique vehicles crossed the finish line in Moline, Ill., out of 109 that started the 2016 Great Race in San Rafael, Cal.

The Crooked Road Racers, a local team made up of members of Boy Scout Troop 188 and their leader and driver, Dr. Tom Littrell, competed in this year’s rally-style race. The Galax team placed second in the youth division and 46th overall. They drove Littrell’s 1928 Model A Ford Roadster Highboy over 2,500 miles.

INDEPENDENCE — The Grayson County Blue Devils were welcomed with style last Friday, as they charged onto the field to the sight of a newly-installed flag pole; and completely renovated stone bleachers, jam-packed full of cheering fans.

The opening game of the season was preceded by a rededication ceremony for the Bill Strong Field at the newly named Grayson National Bank Stadium, as well as a dedication ceremony for the flag pole.

HILLSVILLE – The Carroll County Agriculture Fair is back this year with a full schedule of events and carnival entertainment for all ages. The fair will run from today, Wednesday, through Sunday at the Southwest Virginia Farmers’ Market.

To kick off the fair, local students in second and third grades will enjoy agriculture education days Tuesday through Thursday, with stations to demonstrate different areas of agriculture. Fifth grade students will attend on Friday.

Susannah Hampton Paisley Pushkin has tried to find a meaningful use for her family’s 48-acre Historic Paisley Farm on Beech Grove Lane in Baywood, and her 120-acre King George land grant farmland on Pilgrim’s Fork Road in Elk Creek.

The second annual Khan-Con last weekend was a destination for lovers of comics, sci-fi and fantasy movies, games and other genres of fandom; and offered a chance for attendees to be real-life heroes for a local boy suffering from a rare disease, Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy.